diff --git a/fre/fre.py b/fre/fre.py
index 2b9b2850..46cebe23 100644
--- a/fre/fre.py
+++ b/fre/fre.py
@@ -22,13 +22,14 @@
 else:
     version_minor = version_unexpanded_split[1]
 # if the patch version is present, then use it. otherwise, omit
-if '2' in range(len(version_unexpanded_split)):
+try:
+    len(version_unexpanded_split[2])
     if len(version_unexpanded_split[2]) == 1:
         version_patch = "0" + version_unexpanded_split[2]
     else:
         version_patch = version_unexpanded_split[2]
     version = version_unexpanded_split[0] + '.' + version_minor + '.' + version_patch
-else:
+except IndexError:
     version = version_unexpanded_split[0] + '.' + version_minor
 
 # click and lazy group loading